A Doctor's Courage (2001)

Excerpt from the draft of "Apostle to the Pygmies – The Doctor Jerry Galloway Story"

On March 1, a young soldier with an AK-47 rifle came to the mission. He asked the storekeeper to give him an axle for his bicycle. The storekeeper told him the price, and the soldier did not want to pay for it. The storekeeper refused to give it to him, and the soldier threatened him, so he fled through the back door, which opened into the missionary yard. The soldier knocked on my door and told me he was angry with the storekeeper. I told him I would take him to Father Daniel, who oversaw the store and returned to my room.

A few minutes later, I went out the back door and saw the workers gathered together. They told me the soldier was stalking the storekeeper and was going to shoot him. At that moment, the storekeeper ran toward me, and I locked him in my room and went to block the soldier from advancing. Father Daniel, the soldier, and I arrived at the same spot at the same time. Father Daniel yelled at the soldier to leave the yard and made a motion to push him.

The soldier put his finger on the trigger of his rifle. Father Daniel sent a worker to get the commander. The soldier made a move toward my room, and I stepped in front of him and told him, "If you pull the trigger, you will go to jail. We are not at war, so put down your gun and leave." The soldier and I just stared at one another. Finally, he turned and left.

I immediately got on my bike and raced to inform the village chief and the chief of police. The two men were afraid to do anything. The commander came and disarmed and arrested the soldier. That evening there was a preliminary investigation, and they wrote down all that occurred. The missionaries signed declarations. Two days later, they brought the soldier to the dispensary because he was blind in his right eye. Dr. Bakoko examined him, and it appeared the soldier had a brain tumor. They transferred him to Kinshasa.